Artillery
Summary The Artillery is an Offensive Weapon that uses Iridium to fire powerful shells over long distances. Overview To use the Artillery, a player must be sitting in the control seat. They can then use WASD to control the turret, and click to fire a shell. The fired shell is affected by gravity similarly to the Rocket Launcher's rocket, though the artillery's shell travels further and does more damage. The Artillery produces high recoil, so if mounted on an unanchored or ungrounded surface (such as a Hover Barge without a Spatial Anchor), it will fling the cannon, and the whole structure, backwards. To load the artillery, it needs to be connected to a system that contains at least 160 iridium (a single Distributor Cap does not work). Once there is enough iridium available, the artillery will consume it and begin creating a shell - this takes 6 seconds. Once the shell is complete, it can be fired, and the artillery will require another 160 iridium to begin creating a new shell. Artillery shells are very powerful, dealing anywhere from 250-350 damage per shot (the damage is based on distance), and deals a fixed 225 (7.5%) damage to Shields. Strategy The Artillery has one of the longest ranges of any weapon, however, since it is slow to set up and must remain stationary, it is still very vulnerable to enemy interference. A ground artillery must be set up within 20 to 30 terrain tiles of the target you intend to hit - Artillery placed on Spires or on Skybases have much greater range, sometimes being able to reach more than 40 tiles. For maximum range, try to aim the Artillery roughly at 45 degrees. Since Artillery uses a lot of Iridium to fire (roughly 32 per second if one shot is fired every 6 seconds), it is usually best to use a Transceiver or some other type of direct connection to transport Iridium from your base, instead of trying to produce it on location, unless one has access to 3 or more Well Pumps. Setting up an Artillery near an enemy base may be a challenge as the enemy can easily return fire, so it is recommended to use an Orbital Shield to give you enough time to build the Artillery. It is not recommended to use the Artillery against enemy players or Barges, as it has a long reload and cannot adjust it's aim quickly to hit a moving target. Enemy players can also avoid the Artillery shots by hiding underground. Despite this, the powerful explosive force of the shells can often be enough to knock players and Barges into the Iridium Ocean if one lands nearby. As already mentioned above, firing Artillery on a Hover Barge will usually lead to the Barge being flung backwards (usually ending in the Ocean), but this can be prevented using a Spatial Anchor. With this trick, Artillery can be used on a Barge, allowing teams to build the Artillery in a safe location and move it into position when ready, entirely avoiding the main weakness of Artillery. Note that since Barges cannot fly more than 180 studs above ground level, static Artillery which are placed above the 180 stud limit can have a slightly higher range than Artillery placed on a Barge, unless the Artillery on the Barge is also somehow elevated. Counters Artillery will do crippling damage to bases very quickly, so the best method to beat an opponent using artillery is to prevent them building one within range of you. Good weapons for this are the Sniper Rifle, which works very well at similar ranges to the Artillery, Cruise Missiles for disrupting bases at long range (though these can be blocked easily if there is ground in front of the artillery), or building your own Artillery in your base, and using it to shoot at any Artillery they try to build within range. Alternatively, leaving your base and confronting the enemy at close range is also an effective tactic. If the enemy is using an Orbital Shield, close-range engagement or a Bore is highly recommended. This approach does not work if the enemy builds their artillery on a Barge, as the Artillery can be constructed inside their base and then be driven within range to immediately fire. Dealing with Artillery Barges can be incredibly difficult if they are constructed and operated correctly, as they are highly mobile and do not have a vulnerable setup period. However, Artillery Barges have the same weakness as any other Barge - they can be countered somewhat easily using Rocket Launchers and sometimes even friendly Artillery. Pros & Cons Pros * Extremely high damage * Long range * Can shoot in an arc over obstacles * Good for taking out heavily fortified bases. Cons * Expensive to build and fire. * Must be constructed near the enemy base (unless using a Barge) * Must be anchored to fire safely * Turret moves very slowly * Needs to be connected to storage to work * Mostly ineffective against moving targets. Trivia The Artillery is not classified as a cannon, but as a howitzer, since it has an elevation range of both less than and greater than 45°. Category:Weapons [[Category:Offensive